Drumming with injuries

[SonorWhacker]

About 18-24 months ago at work I managed to do myself a fairly hefty back injury which put me out of action for quite a while. I slipped 5 discs, complete with nerve compression and a fractured vertebrae (L1-2, L2-3, L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1 herniated, for those of you that know the lingo). As you could probably imagine it didn't tickle. There was a point where walking up and down stairs was totally out of the question and even rolling over in bed just about had me in tears. It impacted a fair bit in my life but drumming was probably the most frustrating thing! I couldn't really do anything on the kit. It was a decent excuse to hit the pad more than usual, but you guys dont need to be told it's not the same thing. I left my band, had to turn down some session opportunities, and playing in general ground to a halt.

Fast forward to now, medical interventions and lots of rest and blah blah blah long story short, it's still giving me grief but I'm at the point where I can drum for decent amounts of time again, which to me feels pretty miraculous! But that period of time where it seriously impacted me to the point of not being able to drum at all wasn't something I'd wish on anyone. Anyone else had an experience with an injury preventing them from drumming? I'd be interested to hear it, and if/how you recovered.

Lift with the knees and not the back, ladies and gentlemen!

[SpazApproved]

I had a horrible accident snow boarding... i snapped my left arm in half. I've had 4 surgeries to correct it.
i'll never move my wrist again after all the surgeries but my fingers work again.
I had radial nerve pulsey and the first doctor told me I'd never use my arm/hand again.
Second specialist did several tendon transfers and a tendon transplant.
It's taken me years of work but most can't even tell my arm is messed up.

[CycleDude]

Dude, its a perfect time for this thread as I'm struggling with this right now, too.

Two days before this past Thanksgiving, I had to take my 12-year-old daughter to the store. There was something on my front stairs that I didn't see hidden in some fallen leaves. I stepped down, rolled my ankle and fell down the flight of stairs, bouncing off of the side of the car and into the driveway unable to get up. I ended up with two torn tendons in my left ankle. I've spent the last 6 weeks in a damned moon-boot looking thing and it hasn't healed. I went for an MRI and it turns out that it needs surgical repair.

I cant even get into the basement, let alone play. I'm trying to stay positive, using the time to try to work on the pad which I haven't done since I was a kid and realizing how non-existent my chops are. I decided to change the worn out snare skin and it sounds terrible, so I'm even more put off.

I know its temporary but it's so $^!*%#!! frustrating!

[pgm554]

Rayford Griffin from Jean Luc Ponty fell off a balcony a few years ago and broke his back ,but seems to have recovered quite well.

He's on Facebook.
Send him a message and ask him how he gets by.

And look at Phil Collins.
He has to strap a drumstick to his hand to play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug1X8TYNCyU
Man that sucks!

Personally in the late 90's I slept funny and pinched a nerve that really threw off my left hand.
I lost about 50% of the strength in it and it took over 10 years just to get it back to near normal.
Rehab and time are your only friends when it comes to that type of injury.

[late8]

Man, I'm so sorry to read about the major injuries you guys have had in your lives. I'm dealing with compressed and bulging disks in my neck. I consulted with a spine surgeon a few years ago and after looking at my X-rays and MRI's, he suggested Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion or (ACDF) where they remove the compressed disk and replace it with a metal spacer and fuse the rest of the disks in the affected area. They go in through the front of your neck to reach these disks. After reading about this type of surgery (8 to 10 weeks out of work), I opted out but instead took cortisone injections and by the second treatment, the pain and discomfort went away. My neck gets stiff every time it rains but other than that, I can drum without any issues (knock on wood).

Below is the X-ray of my neck. I take one day at a time. I try not to focus on what could lie ahead of me down the road if this should get worse. I live each day as if it were my last.

DA00D7E0-F9FA-49D9-96EC-ACB1B2692D48_zpsw8ke93olwithpaint_zpsb9348c57.jpg

[CycleDude]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, Late8., but my inner photo-dork thinks xrays are cool to look at.

When my son was 2 or so, he broke his collar bone. He was afraid of the xray machine so I told him it was just a big camera. He sat there, very afraid, yet smiling and saying "cheeeeeese"

[late8]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, Late8., but my inner photo-dork thinks xrays are cool to look at.

When my son was 2 or so, he broke his collar bone. He was afraid of the xray machine so I told him it was just a big camera. He sat there, very afraid, yet smiling and saying "cheeeeeese"

Thanks Kevin! My wife had here ankle fused during the summer. She shattered it when she was in her 20's and 27 years later she had to have it fused. I know you're about to go through the same thing here soon. Now that I know you like x-ray pics, let me share a few that they took of my wife's right ankle. Note all of the arthritis in the "before" x-ray around her ankle. The surgeon had to grind all that arthritis out until he could see bone and blood so the fusion would take. Looks like he added heavy duty hardware but left the staple in place since it was too deep to pull out.

Before and After

7.jpg

After:

8.jpg

After:

9.jpg

[slinky]

hope you all are getting well. i sprained my wrist somehow, somewhere and friggin hurts.

I know it doesnt sound like much but its enough to be bothersome. I didnt think i could or should try to play the other day but was able. it's my snare hand wrist..